AMD Launches Hardcore Mobile Processor

If Nvidia thought it would be alone in delivering hardcore handheld devices with high-tech hardware, it will seriously have to reconsider. AMD has also announced an expanded portfolio of products and technologies to enable popular, media-rich applications such as mobile TV, 3D games and high-fi audio, delivering immersive entertainment to tomorrow’s mobile phones and handheld devices. All this was showcased at this year’s GSMA 2008 World Mobile Congress.

AMD has enhanced its established line of open-standard handheld device technologies with upcoming AMD Imageon processors, as well as next-generation 3D and vector graphics cores, available for licensing. These new offerings are designed to allow device manufacturers and network operators to support today’s most popular applications, as well as cutting-edge applications that will thrill tomorrow’s mobile consumer.

“Today’s mobile consumers demand devices and services capable of providing outstanding entertainment. AMD is committed to enabling advanced graphical interfaces that deliver the Ultimate Visual Experience on the go,” said Adrian Hartog, senior vice president and general manager of AMD’s Consumer Electronics Group. “Our latest handheld technologies allow AMD to better address new and emerging applications, such as 3D gaming and mobile TV, as well as satisfy today’s consumers who crave portable music players and full-function touchscreen mobile phones.”

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According to analyst firm iSuppli, premium mobile content such as music, games and video is gaining momentum as a key revenue driver for network operators. In fact, mobile content now surpasses messaging as the largest data segment, representing 51 percent of total data revenue.

As a leading supplier of media processors and graphics cores for the handheld market, AMD works with an ecosystem of device makers, software developers, and baseband suppliers to deliver innovative technology solutions that can yield truly immersive mobile content.

The latest technology offerings to broaden the popular family of AMD Imageon processors will include:

• AMD Imageon D160 mobile TV solution, a complete hardware and software package that will enable OEMs to design cutting-edge mobile devices that receive over-the-air broadcast TV signals transmitted in the DVB-T and DVB-H standards. This turnkey, antenna-to-display solution also will enable mobile TV functionality to be designed in a USB-powered device for watching live television on notebook PCs, PDAs, portable media players and other USB-enabled handheld devices.
• AMD Imageon M210 audio processor is designed to enable a high-definition, fully integrated audio subsystem capable of delivering more than 100 hours of music playback in airplane mode.
• AMD Imageon A250 application processor for feature phones will combine the best of AMD’s latest multimedia technology for video recording and playback, photo imaging, and high-res displays while maintaining long system battery life.
• AMD Z180 OpenVG 1.x graphics core offers the only available hardware-accelerated native vector graphics solution, ideal for advanced user interfaces, navigational systems and portable devices optimized for animation and Flash-style content.
• AMD Z460 OpenGL ES 2.0 graphics core will deliver fully programmable shader models for realistic 3D graphics, designed to revolutionize the mobile gaming experience for portable devices.

The new technology will be available for OEMs and silicon supplier licensees to sample beginning this month. Features enabled by these new products and technologies are expected to start appearing in mobile devices in late 2008 and 2009.